Mayhem Across Time
by pippinwitch
Summary: Experimenting with a time altering restricted substance, Fred and George Weasley move back in time to the Marauders' fifth year at Hogwarts. When the greatest troublemakers of two different generations meet, the result is the mother of all conflicts!
1. Essence of Mayfly

_Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize._

_A/N: This is a weird little idea that occurred to me the other day: what do you get if you combine the Marauders and Fred and George Weasley, the most talented troublemakers of two different generations? Answer: TROUBLE! _

_This is roughly set around late October of The Prisoner of Azkaban, though some things may end up slightly AU later. It's kind of hard to make something involving time-travel fit well with existing events._

Chapter One – Essence of Mayfly 

George Weasley lounged at his ease against a table, waiting for his twin, Fred, to return from raiding Professor Snape's supply cupboard.

Fred and George Weasley were in their fifth year at Hogwarts and should have been studying hard for their OWL's in the run-up to Christmas, along with the rest of their year. However, the Weasley twins had always found more interesting ways to spend their time than on study and their favourite activity was inventing new and ever moredevious ways to skive classes and generally cause mayhem around Hogwarts castle.

George was in the Room of Requirement, which at that moment resembled a large, well equipped Potions Lab. Bottles of strange liquids, cauldrons of bubbling potions releasing coloured miasmas into the room and many glass vials and other equipment were everywhere. It was the perfect setting for the Weasleys' latest series ofWheeze-making experiments, not least because it was one of the places in the castle where they were least likely to be dicovered.

Suddenly the door flew open. George leapt to his feet, looking guilty, then relaxed when he saw that it was only Fred, looking flushed and excited.

'Did you get it?' George asked eagerly.

'Ta da!' said Fred, waving a small jar of black powder. 'With compliments of Professor Severus Snape.'

'Great!' Without further ado the duo set to work. Their mission for this particular lunch break was to develop a way of speeding up time over a small area, so that dull and boring lessons would go by much faster for the student using their product. The black powder was Essence of Mayfly, used in potion making to speed up processes that would usually take too long. Mayflies were perfect for this because of their short, fast lives.

'Ok, any ideas?' asked Fred.

'Well, I hadn't really thought any further than getting hold of the powder, but we'll come up with something.' said George flippantly.

Half an hour later, despite having blasted the powder with all the charms and transfiguring spells they could think of, mixed it with many of the concoctions dotted around the room and even rolled it into balls and bounced it off the walls when they were totally stuck; the twins had as yet failed to extract the time-accelerating ingredient from the Mayfly powder.

'What about the Reducto Curse?' suggested Fred, banging his head rhythmically against the table in a vain attempt to stimulate his brain cells. 'Ow, this actually hurts a lot!'

'Nah, done that. Just made a mess all over the floor.'

'Did we try a separating solution?' asked Fred, supporting his now quite painful head on his hand as he leaned on the tabletop.

'We wanted to, but they're banned, remember? Class C non-tradable substance since You-Know-Who used them for separating people from essentialbody parts when he got annoyed.'

Fred sighed. 'Bloody Hell. We've got to get this one right, think what a seller it would be; every student who takes History of Magic would want it for starters!' he sat for a while, brooding. 'What about a Splintering Hex?' he suggested eventually.

George obligingly grabbed his wand and, pointing it at the small pile of fine black powder, muttered; '_Krakerus_!'

Instantly the one pile became many smaller ones, but nothing else changed. Disappointed, Fred waved his own wand and put the Mayfly powder back to how it was.

'I wish this stuff was as easy to work as the Marauder's Map!' said George, frustrated. With less caution than would be advisable with a restricted substance, George poked the little pile of powder with his wand and said despondently; 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.'

There was a split second of total silence and then the powder exploded in their faces. The twins' world went black.

_A/N: So, what do you think? Sorry if this chapter is a little bit boring, but I have to start somewhere! The next chapter should be more fun as the twins encounter the infamous Marauders. Coming soon to a computer near YOU! Lol, review please! _


	2. Harry?

_A/N: Wow, thanks for all my reviews! I really do appreciate knowing that people actually read my fics. Ok, let's see what happens when the dust clears:_

_Disclaimer: I don't not own nuffin!_

Chapter Two – Harry?

'What the hell just happened?' asked Fred, between racking coughs which felt like they were tearing his lungs up.

'I dunno.' George answered when his own coughing fit subsided. 'That stuff really isn't fun to inhale though!'

They raised their heads and looked around, looking for any damage to the room. Incredibly; apart from the fact that all traces of Essence of Mayfly had vanished, the Room of Requirement was totally untouched. In fact, the twins could have sworn that the room was tidier than it had been before the accident.

'We better get to our next class, Professor Snape's taking Defense Against the Dark Arts again.' said George, getting to his feet. He looked at his watch to see if they were already latebut it had stopped working.

'Oh man, his classes suck! If only we'd got the time accelerator right already!'

Grumbling to each other the twins walked out of the Room of Requirement and started along the corridors to the classroom. As they walked they began to notice, almost subconsciously, little things that weren't quite as they should have been. People they met had slightly old fashioned haircuts, or stickers and badges on their bags for bands that the Weasleys didn't recognise.

'This is weird; I haven't seen a single person I recognize. I thought we knew everyone at Hogwarts.' George noted.

'Yeah, weird…' agreed Fred thoughtfully. They turned down another hallway and saw a familiar messy head of black hair walking away from them, accompanied by a small, mousy haired boy and a boy with shoulder-length black hair who they didn't recognize.

'HARRY!' the Weasleys yelled down the corridor. The boys kept walking.

'God, is he suddenly deaf or something?' wondered Fred.

'Oy, POTTER!' George bellowed. The boy finally stopped and turned around, the twins ran up to him. 'Hey Harry, what's going on around here? Everyone looks different. You're the first person who doesn't look like they stepped straight out of the seventies or something.'

'Do I know you?' the unruly-haired boy said, looking annoyed. Now that they saw his face he did look just like Harry, but there was something in the way he held himself which wasn't right; an arrogance in his manner which Harry had never had. It was like looking at Harry with deliberate little mistakes.

'Of course you do, we're Fred and George Weasley, Ron's brothers. Speaking of which; where is Ron, and Hermione too? Who're these people you're with?' asked Fred, becoming confused.

'I don't know who the hell you are and I don't know who you're talking about, but if you don't leave us alone I'm going to hex you.' said the boy, pulling out his wand and frowning at the twins. 'I really don't have time to talk to nutters.' Without further ado the trio stalked away, leaving Fred and George staring after them in disbelief.

'Come on Padfoot, we've got Quidditch practice later, just gotta get through Divination first.' the boy was saying as they moved away.

'Who were those weirdos?' said the long haired boy.

'I dunno, but Prongs really showed them not to mess with us!' said the smaller boy, looking excited and breathless.

Behind them, the twins looked at each other.

'Padfoot? Prongs?' they whispered 'It can't be?' Reaching an instant decision they pelted down the corridor after the other boys. They skidded to a halt in front of them and said;

'If you're Prongs and you're Padfoot, are you the Marauders?' They asked, wide-eyed. 'Did you write the Marauders' Map?'

'How do you know about that?' exclaimed the mousy-haired boy, 'It's not even finished yet!'

'Yes it is; we've been using it for years.' replied Fred, pulling the map out of the pocket of his robes and activating it. He showed it to the other three boys. 'Without this George and I would never have accomplished some of our most famous tricks.'

'Now listen,' said the long-haired boy, his voice low and threatening, 'I don't know how you got that; but I promise you, if you tell _anyone_ about it I will hex you into the middle of the next decade.'

'We're not going to say anything. In fact, we think we could give you a hand.' offered George.

'We don't need help.' said the messy haired boy stubbornly.

'Yeah, from the sound of it you're more likely to need _our_ help. Didn't you say you'd be nothing without _our_ map?' said the long-haired boy brutally.

'That's not exactly what I said-' began Fred indignantly, but the messy haired boy cut him off:

'Precisely. So stay the hell out of our way, whoever you are.' He said ruthlessly, before storming away down the otherwise empty corridor, his two friends behind him.

'Fine; THIS MEANS WAR!' Fred and George bellowed after them. They walked off in the other direction, their heads close together as they started planning ways to show the Marauders that the Weasleys were just as crafty as they were.

_A/N: Ok, things have got more interesting! Coming up next; Fred and George figure out who the Marauders are, as well as when they are and the prank war begins! _


	3. 1975!

_A/N: Sorry about the delay before this update, I can only present as evidence 1A the fact that I'm in the middle of a week and a half of exams right now :-( So, restrain your wrath if you can and please please please don't kill me, lol._

_Disclaimer: Do I look like a millionaire author to you?_

Chapter Three – 1975!

After their unexpected confrontation with the Maruaders, Fred and George returned to the Room of Requirement, which now contained two beds for them to sleep on, a wide selection of mischief making materials and a calendar on one wall. Hoping that it would answer at least one question, Fred went over to the calendar, which had a picture of a different dragon for each month. This month's picture was a large and very angry Welsh Green.

'It's still the 25th of October.' He said, looking at the calender. 'I don't get it, it's like we're in the past, but the date's the same.'

'Look at the year on the cover.' Suggested George, who was lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling, his mind scheming hard for some way of getting back at the Marauders. Fred flipped the calendar over and whistled.

'1975! No wonder people look different. That's like the Dark Ages or something, they haven't even heard of the Wyrd Sisters yet!'

'The Wyrd Sisters are probably still at school.' George pointed out. 'They might even be here now.'

'D'ya think I could get an autograph?' Fred mused, sitting down on his own bed. The twins sat in silence for a moment, then;

'I've just thought of something: that boy answered when we shouted Potter at him, but not when we said Harry. This is the past, right?'

'You don't think he's Harry's dad?' George said, sitting up suddenly. 'Harry's dad was a Marauder? That lucky little git…'

'I wonder who those boys with him were, what their real names are I mean.'

'I think we need to get some better information on our enemy. James Potter was… _is_ in Gryffindor, right?' Fred said. George nodded.

'We need to get into Gryffindor Tower and do some snooping about.' suggested Fred.

'You can do that; I'll go to the kitchens. We've got to eat something today or we'll shrivel away. I just hope the House elves are as generous now as they are back in the future!'

The twins split up, Fred towards Gryffindor Tower and George towards the painting that was the secret door to the Hogwarts kitchens. Luckily enough the uniform had not changed, so they blended in well as ordinary students. Fred managed to get the password from a nervous-looking first year by pretending to have forgotten it.

He arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, gave the password (_'Venomous Tentacular!_) and sneaked up the boys' staircase until he reached a door with the name James Potter among the list on the door. Letting himself in, he began a lightning fast but thorough search for information. Also, unable to resist the temptation, he left a small surprise for the returning Marauders in their room as he searched.

George headed down through the castle until he reached a seemingly unused corridor containing nothing but a picture of a bowl of fruit. He reached out and tickled the large pear in the centre of the painting. It giggled and squirmed for a moment before turning into a doorknob.

Entering the kitchen, George was only half surprised to find that absolutely nothing had changed from the Hogwarts he knew to the Hogwarts of the past.

'What can Dusty do for young Sir?' squeaked a tiny House Elf, appearing instantly in front of him.

'My brother and I missed lunch, do you have any food we could have?'

'Of course Sir! If Sir will wait one moment?' the Elf dashed away, returning moments later with an armful of buttered bread, cold ham, cheese, apples and several fat cream cakes, as well as a large bottle of pumpkin juice.

'Thanks umm… Dusty.' George muttered, taking the food. The little House Elf looked thrilled that he had remembered her name.

'We is always happy to help here.' She squeaked.

George had just stepped back outside the painting when two boys walked down the corridor towards him. He recognised one of them as the little fat boy, Wormtail,who had been with James Potter. He did not recognise the other boy, who had shaggy, sandy brown hair and looked thin and pale, but he guessed he was the missing fourth Marauder; Moony.

He stepped aside to allow them to pass through the painting into the kitchens. Moony and Wormtail just looked at him as though he was covered in manure as they stepped past him. Evidently Potter had already badmouthed the twins to all his friends. Rattled, George juggled his cargo about until he could reach his wand. He hesitated for a moment, thinking of the best hex to use, then pointed through the closing painting at the boys and muttered;

'_Aravegeo Aguamenti._' Before running as fast as he could down the corridor. Behind him he heard chaos erupt as every liquid substance in the kitchen rose up and drenched the two boys in an assortment of water, hot soup, tea, kitchen slops and a thousand other water-based concoctions. The angry yells of his targets echoed down the halls after him and George giggled manically all the way back to the Room of Requirement.

Later that day, having finally cleared most of the debris out of their clothes, Moony and Wormtail traipsed back to their dorm with the other two Marauders, intending to change before doing homework or Quidditch practice. The moment the door swung shut behind the still fuming group Fred's little surprise came into play.

Every drawer and trunk in the room burst open, showering belongings across the dorm. The boys dived to the floor to avoid having their brains knocked out by airborne books. The last pieces of parchment fluttered down and they raised their heads, thinking the assault was over, but Fred wasn't done yet. Showers of purple and orange streamers fell from the ceiling to add to the mess all over the floor, sticking to everything they touched, and large, glowing letters, orange to match the streamers, appeared in the air. James struggled to his feet, trying to pick the sticky streamers off his robes. He saw the writing and read it aloud, disbelievingly;

'We told you this was war. Your move, Marauders.'

_A/N: So it begins! Please review and tell me what you think. Ooh man the Marauders are pissed off! What do you think they're going to do to the twins? See you next time peeps!_


	4. Howler

_A/N: I'm back! Sorry about the long pause but the muses are notoriously fickle. I've been busily working on my own stories so my fanfics have been sadly neglected. Anyway, on with the madness!_

_Disclaimer: Rich? Me? Yeah, right!_

Chapter 4 – Howler

'We can't let them get away with this.' Sirius stated, picking at his breakfast with an unusual lack of enthusiasm. The four Marauders looked tired and pale, having spent most of the night clearing up their dorm. The streamers had proved surprisingly hard to shift and they had been unable to get rid of the fiery words at all.

'I know we can't Padfoot, but we don't even know who they are. I mean, had you ever seen them before yesterday?' Remus pointed out.

'And how come they knew about the map? That's top secret, that is!' Peter added indignantly.

'I don't know, but I'm going to find out somehow.' vowed James. 'In the meantime, I have an idea. How does this sound….'

The group began to scheme in low voices, piecing together several dastardly revenge plots. Soon a huge flock of owls swooped into the Great Hall, letters and newspapers tied to their legs.

'Ah, post's here, good.' Remus said, reaching out and catching his copy of The Daily Prophet as the tawny delivery owl dropped it. To Sirius' surprise a large brown owl landed right in his plate of scrambled eggs, spattering them across the table. Sirius wiped his face and picked up his unexpected letter. It was a Howler.

'What did you do to piss your family off this time Padfoot?' James wondered.

'I don't know.' Sirius eyed the distant door longingly. 'Think I can make it?'

'Nah, too late, it's already smoking, look.' James pointed. 'Open it, quick!'

Sirius tore open the red envelope and there was a sudden explosion of noise, but not the high pitched shriek of his mother's voice that Sirius had been expecting. This was the voice of a boy.

'SIRIUS BLACK STILL SLEEPS WITH A TEDDY BEAR!' the Howler yelled out for all of Hogwarts to hear. 'HE CALLS IT FUZZY Mc CUDDLES AND HE WON'T GO TO SLEEP WITHOUT IT!' the words were followed with a peal of deafening laughter before, it's damning message delivered, the envelope tore itself to pieces and burned to ash.

Sirius wished he could throw himself off the Astronomy Tower. He slid as low on the bench as he could, but he could still hear the roars of laughter breaking out around the hall. Students were leaning out of their seats to point at him and stare. Sirius' reputation as the coolest boy in school was in pieces.

James, almost as angry as Sirius on behalf of his best friend, looked about. Not far down the Gryffindor table he spotted Fred and George Weasley, clutching each other for support as they laughed so hard that tears ran down their faces. It was clear who had sent the Howler.

Furious, James rose from his seat, brandished his wand and shouted a curse. 'S_tomas Gradilo_!'

Instantly the twins gasped and doubled up with stomach cramps. Fred recovered first and roared a reply. '_Ignitium_!'

A long flame licked from his wand and hit James in the face. A nasty burn appeared, covering half of his face. James yelled with pain. His friends leapt to his defence and a free-for-all duel began. Students screamed and ran in all directions, fearful of being hit by the powerful hexes. The professors were on their feet, calling angrily for order.

'_Cantata_!' Remus called. Fred fell to the floor as the long table rocked violently under his feet.

'_Gymnasia_!' George sent at Peter. His shield charm was just a second too late and he began to cartwheel madly around the hall, knocking fleeing students off their feet as he went. Sirius hexed Fred, whose nose began to swell and bleed spectacularly. Fred hit Sirius with a full-body-bind in revenge and Sirius crashed to the floor. His eyes narrowed in fury and he snarled deep in his throat, but there was nothing he could do.

The fight went on for another minute, with both sides giving as good as they got, but the teachers were struggling towards them.

'George, we have to go! The teachers are coming!' Fred yelled to his brother, ducking a stunner from James. George nodded. '_Obsidia_!' he cried.

The hall was plunged into darkness, causing a fresh round of screams. Under cover of the blackness Fred and George ran for it, leaving chaos behind them. They sprinted up the main staircase, taking the marble steps two at a time, and didn't stop running until they reached the Room of Requirement and slammed the heavy door behind them, giddy with adrenaline.

* * *

'Duelling at breakfast, I never saw such behaviour! I will be writing to all of your parents to inform them of this serious breach of the rules.' Professor McGonagall snapped, pacing furiously around her office. The Marauders wilted under her glare, wishing they too could have disappeared like the Weasleys. James' face was covered in a thick orange paste which was mending his burn and Peter was so stiff from the unusual exercise of his many cartwheels that he could barely move. 'All of you will receive a week of detention and, despite the fact that you are in _my_ house, forty points each will taken from Gryfindor.'

The boys gaped. One hundred and sixty points from Gryffindor in one go, that had to be a record.

'For your sake, Black, Potter; I hope you fly well in next week's match, Gryffindor need those points. If your misbehaviour means that Ravenclaw win the House Cup again this year I will personally see to it that you are in detention for the rest of your time at Hogwarts. Do you understand me?' she barked.

'Yes Professor.' they mumbled.

'Good. Now get out, you're going to be late for class.'

The Marauders traipsed sullenly out of McGonagall's office, horrified by the number of points they had lost. James restrained himself until they were out of earshot and then let loose.

'Forty points from Gryffindor, _each_! When I next see those Weasleys I'm going to _kill _them!'

'You hexed them first.' Remus pointed out miserably.

'Yeah well they deserved it. They're the ones who sent that Howler, I'd bet my broom on it.' James protested.

'And they're gonna _pay_ for that one, you just wait!' Sirius promised, glowering.

Muttering darkly, the Marauders headed for their first lesson of the day.

_A/N: So, what do you think? See that little review button? PRESS IT. You know you want to. _


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